The Charlestown Pirate Baseball team (15-5 and 7-1 MSC) moved within one game of their share of the program’s first Mid-Southern Conference Baseball crown since 1987.  The Pirates are currently tied with Silver Creek with one conference game remaining, a Monday showdown at Salem (1-7 MSC).  Thursday night the Pirates eliminated Brownstown (15-7 & 5-3 MSC) from conference contention by defeating the visiting Braves 7-1, behind solid pitching by Kelly Rider.  Rider stayed perfect from the mound (5-0), pitching the complete seven innings, allowing two hits, one run, one walk and four strikeouts.  “I’m very pleased with our effort tonight. We were focused and ready to play after a couple good days of practice. Kelly threw the ball well and we gave him some good run support early that allowed him to settle in”, commented Charlestown Head Coach Ricky Romans after the game.  Colin Martin (.533) led the Pirates from the plate, finishing two for three, including a double and two RBI’s.  Drew Reich also added a double from the plate for the winning cause.  The Pirates scored seven runs off eight hits and committed two errors; Brownstown committed one error.  Saturday, the Pirates will host their Invitational Tournament; slating Charlestown vs Tell City at 11:00 am and Providence vs Mt. Vernon (Posey) at 1:30 pm. The Invitational Consolation Game is scheduled for 4:00 pm and the Championship Game at 6:30 pm.  Follow Charlestown Pirate Pride Sports Broadcasting for Invitational updates via Twitter and full coverage of Monday’s MSC Showdown at Salem; starting at 4:45 pm.

Over the past week, junior varsity baseball teams of the Mid-Southern Conference have been competing to decide a conference champion.  The Pirates played beat Corydon 9-8 in the Semi-Final Round and Clarksville 14-1 in the Championship game Saturday to win the conference honors.  The Pirates are 10-3 and 6-1 MSC, and will be back in action on Tuesday hosting Madison and again on Wednesday hosting Corydon.

The Charlestown Pirate Baseball team got the timely situational hits needed to overpower the visiting Class 4A #13 Olympians; and move to 13-5 on the season.  A pair of first inning Pirate errors allowed Columbus East to put base runners in place before their number five batter smacked a home run to jump out to a 3-0 lead.  Two innings later, the Pirates returned the favor.  Senior Jason Houchens started the rally with a double to left field, before Justin Farris singled to right; that set the stage for Ryan Jones, currently batting over .560 on the season.  Jones took full advantage of the opportunity with three run home run over the left center field fence.  Senior Drew Reich kept the rally going by hitting a single before Devon Krueger reached on balls, and Tanner Wesp singled to add two more runs making the score 5-3.  The Olympians tied the score at five in the top of sixth when a single to right field, with bases loaded, plated two.  The Pirates added a run in the bottom of the sixth when Dewey Cardwell slapped a double to left field and Justin Farris drove him home with a triple to right field.  The play provoked CPPSB to name Farris the Coyle Chevy, Buick, GMC and Coyle Nissan Player of the Game.  Dalton Brown got the win on the mound in relief of starter Colin Martin.  Devon Krueger earned a save in relief of Brown in the sixth.  “Good win tonight for our program. We got good pitching tonight, played solid defense after a couple tough plays early and got some timely hits”, commented Head Coach Ricky Romans.  The Pirates are back in action next Tuesday at New Washington before a big MSC showdown hosting Brownstown.

The Pirate Baseball team kept their MSC hopes alive with a huge 5-0 shut out of Austin in the Pirate Bone Yard Thursday night.  The Pirates (12-5 & 6-1 MSC) scored four runs in the bottom of the first, then their fifth run in the second while enroute to a big MSC contest.  Charlestown scored their five runs off seven hits while avoiding an error. Pirate Kelly Rider (4-0) got the complete game shut out win from the mound’ allowing just three hits, walking one and striking out five.  Austin (11-5 & 4-1 MSC) came into the game ranked #11 in the current 2A IHSBCA poll; while the Class 3A #11 Pirates entered the game 1 1/2 games out of the conference lead.  “Kelly threw a great game tonight and really did a nice job of attacking the hitters and getting ahead in the count. Our defense showed up and played well and we got some runs early to give Kelly some support” commented Coach Romans after the win.  Devon Krueger and Tanner Wesp led the Pirates at the plate, each finishing with a double.  Zach Ramirez finished two for two with an RBI; while Ryan Jones finished one for three.  The Pirates will host Columbus North Friday.

The Class 3A #10 Charlestown Pirate Baseball team traveled to Floyd Central Friday evening for an out-of-conference match-up.  The Pirates led 1-0 after the first inning, then 3-1 after the three complete between they tied at seven after five.  The Highlanders led 8-7 going to the bottom of the sixth before the Pirates scored two runs to regain the lead in the top of the seventh.  Floyd Central rallied and scored two in the bottom of the seventh to avoid the upset at home.  More to follow….

The Pirates’ show down with Class 3A #5 Silver Creek, for the MSC lead, is Monday evening, 5:00 pm at Silver Creek.

The Charlestown Pirate Baseball team hosted the Clarksville Generals in Mid-Southern Conference play Thursday evening, having a huge fifth inning to ten rule the Generals 14-4 and improve to 11-3 & 5-0 MSC on the season thus far.  Senior Drew Reich returned to the mound, pitching the win for the Pirates and moving his record to 3-0 on the season.  Wyatt Kissel collected the loss from the General mound.  Both pitchers delivered over 90 pitches throughout the game.  The Pirates answered a run scored by the Generals in the top of the second; with two runs in the bottom after a scoreless first.  The Pirates repeated that scoring action in the third, scoring two runs in the bottom of the third after a second run by Clarksville (3-10 & 1-2 MSC) to make it a 4-2 advantage after three.  Holding the Generals run-less in the top of the third, the Pirates got the sticks busy, adding three runs in the bottom of the fourth and a big seven run fifth to take a ten run lead and end the game in five.  Devon Krueger had a big night for the Pirates, finishing 2 of 3 from the plate, including two doubles and two RBIs.  Atom Ward finished 2 for 4 in trips to the plate, with two runs; and Justin Farris added a triple to the winning mix.  “We got off to a slow start tonight and didn’t really have the intensity we needed. To the guys credit, they made some adjustments and got it going but we have to come out ready to go right away at all times”, commented a pleased Pirate Head Coach Ricky Romans.  The Pirates start a competitive strength of their schedule; next up are three straight state-ranked opponents.  The Pirates go to Floyd Cental Friday night, to Silver Creek in a huge MSC showdown Monday evening, and then host Austin on Thrusday.